And while the Pew survey didn’t draw any conclusions about the president’s decision, or address the election, a brief look at its numbers shows that the same-sex marriage decision may not have a big direct effect on his re-election campaign.

About 25 percent of those polled by Pew said the decision lessened their opinion of President Obama, while 19 percent said they had a more favorable opinion.

But given the already clear divide among voters with a political preference, and known preferences based on age and education, Obama’s announcement doesn’t seem to have “moved the needle” in the re-election process.

In fact, 53 percent of Republicans surveyed said the president’s statement increased their negative opinion of him.

In areas key to the Obama campaign, like his popularity among Independents and young voters, the same-sex marriage decision didn’t appear to change people’s minds.

Among Independents, about 60 percent said the decision had no effect on them at all, while an equal number had more positive or negative opinions of the president.

And 62 percent of young voters said the decision had no impact on them.

The youth vote could be a key to Obama’s re-election, and with jobless numbers at high levels among young workers, the president might need to work to get the youth-vote support he had in 2008.

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Podcast: Confederate License Plates

Ilya Shapiro and Scott Gaylord join us to debate one of the more interesting cases in front of the Supreme Court this term: the right of Texas to ban state-issued license plates that feature the Confederate flag.